I Tried De-Googling My Phone Just Two Apps Survived

I figured it was time. Time to really see if a life without Google on my phone was even a thing. I mean, everyone talks about privacy, about control, about not being a product. So, armed with a fresh install of LineageOS and a truckload of F-Droid recommendations, I dove in. The goal? Only open-source apps. No Google Play Services, no Google anything. Just pure, unadulterated, open-source freedom.

It started… rough. The first hurdle was just getting a decent map app that didn’t feel like it was designed in 2005. OsmAnd was okay, I guess. It got me from point A to point B eventually, but it felt like I was constantly fighting it. Pinning a destination felt like a mini-game, and god forbid I needed to re-route quickly. I missed the effortless pinch-to-zoom and traffic updates from, well, you know who.

The Great Messaging App Meltdown

Then came messaging. Signal was a no-brainer, but beyond that? Forget about it. Trying to get family and friends onto anything else was like herding cats. I even tried a few XMPP clients, which were, frankly, more confusing than learning a new language. I spent twenty minutes trying to get a floating Safari window to stay put while making coffee, and by the time it worked I’d already finished the coffee. It wasn’t Safari, of course, but that’s how futile it felt trying to debug why my messages weren’t sending half the time. It was a constant stream of “Did you get my text?” followed by “Oh, wait, I sent it on Matrix. Sorry.” My social life took a hit, not gonna lie.

For email, FairEmail was a strong contender. It’s got a mountain of settings, which is both a blessing and a curse. You can tweak absolutely everything, but sometimes you just want to open your email and read it without thinking about IMAP idle settings or notification priorities. It worked, though. It actually worked pretty well, after a few hours of fiddling. This wasn’t like trying to decipher Richard II and Henry IV’s last words, but it was a close second in terms of mental effort.

The app situation for basics like notes, calendar, and even a decent photo gallery was a mixed bag. Some were surprisingly good, others felt like they were in perpetual beta. I found myself really missing the simplicity, the just-works-ness, of apps I’d taken for granted. It made me reconsider the whole “control” aspect. Is it control if you’re constantly troubleshooting?

After two weeks of this digital wilderness, I threw in the towel on most things. My phone was becoming a brick, albeit a very private brick. I realized that for many apps, the open-source alternatives simply aren’t mature enough, or they demand a level of technical patience I just don’t possess for everyday tools. It felt a bit like when I tried to fix My Android home screen; started with good intentions, ended in a slightly less chaotic but still not perfect state.

The Survivors

So, what survived? Two apps. Only two. NewPipe for YouTube content (because I still wanted to watch videos without the ads or tracking) and Signal for messaging (because, well, privacy and some of my friends actually use it). Everything else? Back to the familiar, slightly-less-private, but infinitely more functional world of Google-connected apps. It’s a compromise, sure. But it’s a compromise that lets me use my phone without a daily battle. Maybe the whole de-Googling thing will catch up, like how MAUI on Linux is trying to make big strides. But for now, my phone is a hybrid, a testament to the fact that while open source is awesome, convenience often wins.

It was an interesting experiment, a real look behind the curtain of what we sacrifice for convenience. I learned a lot. Mostly, that I like my phone to just work.